St. Davids, PA: Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Nikki Toyama-Szeto MA ’07 as Executive Director.
Nikki brings over 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience to ESA, having previously served both International Justice Mission and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, where she worked for many years as the program director for Urbana Missions Conference. She is the author of several books, including Partnering with the Global Church (Urbana Onward) and More Than Serving Tea: Asian American Women on Expectations, Relationships, Leadership and Faith.
A mechanical engineer and patent holder with a degree from Stanford, Nikki left the lucrative field of engineering to pursue ministry full-time. She embodies her commitment to living out God’s call to love and serve “the least of these,” through her life’s work serving people on the margins. An Eastern University alumna with a Master’s in Organizational Leadership, Nikki is passionate about both faith-rooted social justice work, and holistic evangelism.
“ESA is in my DNA,” Nikki says. "From working with college students, and challenging them to think through how their major and career can help build God’s kingdom, to teaching activists how to consider justice through a Christian frame, I have worked to steward well the power and privilege I have, to make space for additional voices to be at the table. ESA's vision of a world "on earth, as it is in heaven" is one that I feel uniquely equipped and called to help carry out."
ESA founder and current board chair, Ron Sider, remarks: "Nikki’s faith commitment and her vocational choices demonstrate powerfully that she is committed to thoughtful biblical reflection, just action, and completely pro-life public policies. ESA has long been the home for biblically faithful followers of Jesus who seek to pursue holistic ministry, and it is clear that in Nikki, we have found a leader who is both called and equipped to carry this important work into the future."
In partnership with Eastern University and other individual and institutional partners, ESA serves as a catalyzing agent for Christ’s shalom via projects focused on cultural renewal, holistic ministry, political reflection and action, social justice and reconciliation, and creation care. For more about ESA visit evangelicalsforsocialaction.org. For more on Nikki and an insightful conversation with ESA Board Member Kathy Khang, visit here.